A large number of deaths are attributed each year to distracted driving in the United States. Many drivers are too busy texting, making phone calls, or reading (among other things) while driving their cars. If you listen to some people in Washington, the answer to fixing such driving stupidity are even more safety mandates.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants collision-avoidance technology such as forward-collision and lane-departure warning systems, adaptive cruise control, and automatic braking on every car sold in the U.S. These technologies are already available as options on many luxury cars currently on the market.

The problem on the consumer end of things is that these safety features are included in options packages that add $1,000 or more to the price of the vehicle. Automotive manufacturers oppose the NTSB because the added costs would spread to even the most basic automobiles on the market instead of being relegated to more expensive vehicles where buyers are more willing to fork over the money.

However, the NTSB believes that this sort of technology can help drivers improve reaction times and avoid crashes.

According to the NHTSA, systems such as the ones it's recommending would make a significant impact on reducing the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers. Accidents caused by distracted drivers account for 60% of highway fatalities.

"We have a chance to take a big bite into that figure," NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said.

quote: People like you need to learn to cool off and drive safely, then no one would need stupid things like automatic braking.

People who drive slow in the fast lane and pace themselves with the car in the lane next to them so nobody can get around them are of course saints for making sure everybody else drives safely under the speed limit.

As a society, I suppose we should praise this kind of general jackassery, even though it's the law that you shouldn't be in the fast lane if you're going slower than the rest of the traffic behind you.

You mean you haven't been in an accident yet. First thing I do when I notice an impatient hot head drive is slowly start letting off the gas. Accomplishes two things pisses you off and gets you away from me.

quote: First thing I do when I notice an impatient hot head drive is slowly start letting off the gas. Accomplishes two things pisses you off and gets you away from me.

This right here is the problem and why there are accidents. People who think they're above common courtesy who purposely slam on the brakes to prove a point, drive slower than necessary, make U-turns where they shouldn't be, dash across three lanes of traffic without looking, to get on an exit ramp they forgot they needed, not signaling, driving erratic speeds, texting, talking on the phone and not paying attention.. People who won't let the fact that other drivers are on the road stop them from doing ridiculous BS moves that completely stop the flow of traffic and/or nearly cause accidents every turn they make.

Purposely inciting road rage seems to be a great solution. Keep it up.

Dunno how many lanes you are talking about but if its 3+ then please get the hell out of the right lane. It is the merging / exiting lane and it is where the vast majority of highway accidents occur (as in 95% iirc). Hanging out in it is truly asking for [stuff] to happen and making stuff happen just by being there.

As for rear-end while stopped, truly good drivers leave room ahead and plan a quick escape to get out of the way of rear enders. You need to be vigilant till that next car displays a readiness and ability to stop properly. Of course, if there is no escape route, then you are well and truly at their mercy and screwed if they suck at driving.

You may very well have never been in an accident. This doesn't mean you haven't caused any; and it *certainly* does not mean that you are a safe driver. "Your Honor, I may have blown a .5 on the breathalyzer, but I drive that way all the time. It's not unsafe if I've never had an accident."

The poster you replied to is absolutely right; statistically speaking your driving habits are exactly what causes accidents. You drive in the same manner as a distracted driver, and for that reason the safety systems will actually make you a better driver. Sorry you don't get to keep endangering other people's lives. I'll see if I can find some sad violin music to play at the not funerals of people who don't die as a result of your minimal loss of privilege.

quote: are of course saints for making sure everybody else drives safely under the speed limit

Where I drive, it's usually the case that everyone consistently goes 5-10 over the speed limit. But there's always some asshat in a beeeeemer thinking he's (it's usually a 'he') on an autobahn, and expecting everyone to scamper out of his way and crowd the middle lane just so that he can rocket merrily onward to his next speeding ticket...

quote: it's the law that you shouldn't be in the fast lane if you're going slower than the rest of the traffic behind you

It's also the law not to significantly exceed speed limits. I believe in many states going 20 over is actually considered a felony, yet I see people do that all the time and far more frequently than going "safely under the speed limit".

quote: I'm clearly the problem having never been in an accident.

And the guy who liked playing Russian Roulette had never blown his brains out, either. Until one day he did...

quote: And the guy who liked playing Russian Roulette had never blown his brains out, either. Until one day he did...

Again, another person reading way too far into what I said. My only point was that there's going to be occasions where accelerating around something or getting close to something is safer than braking. In those instances, will automatic braking f*ck you over and cause an accident where you would have normally avoided one?

I never said I was speeding down the road 100% of the time going 30mph over the limit weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, and other general jackassery that over aggressive drivers do. I said essentially and maybe the modifer of 'rare' was a necessity for people to understand my point better.. On rare occasion I make an aggressive move, be it to avoid a bottleneck, or something worse.

Braking is not the answer to avoiding all situations that could be problematic, and a car that takes that decision away from me is not something I'm in favor of. Sure 80% of the population that already drives distracted would benefit from automatic braking.. That's not my point though. My point is how beneficial is it to the driver that's actually paying attention and knows when to accelerate out of problems and when to brake.

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